Three Strikes [✓]

The Hero's Fall

Chapter Four: The Hero's Fall

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Gunther Bay, Usea.
June 6th, 2019.
1800hrs.

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The sky was a dark shade of orange, the sun a fiery ball sinking below the horizon. Dark, scattered clouds moved slowly with the wind, still hanging in the air after a recent storm and blocking a lot of the view. Putting that aside, there were moments where the clouds would break and Naomi was able to just barely make out the impressive sunset. She knew she wouldn't have a lot of time to enjoy it, though, so she tried her best to relax on the way.

Ahead of her, the space elevator lay waiting for her arrival, and with it the Erusea's radar network and anti-air weaponry. They had the Arsenal Bird on their side, an unfair advantage in any situation. No wonder Osea had constructed two of them. Air superiority was an important asset in almost every war, and those that possessed it were most likely to come out victorious. Osea had a nasty habit of building massive, destructive aircraft and not keeping a close enough guard on them.

Obviously that wasn't the only thing they were terrible at guarding. They lost the space elevator for starters, which was one of the first things Erusea's forces moved in on once the war started, they lost both Arsenal Birds, making things risky for the pilots in their air force, and to top it all off, they lost their former president. The man was well respected among the Osean citizens and among other countries, such as Yuktobania and previously by most of Usea.

Former President Harling was known best for his actions before, during, and after the Circum-Pacific War. The briefer had referred to him as the 'hero' of the war, but Naomi didn't quite share that sentiment. She remembered reading the articles on the pilots from Sand Island, and then remembered many books and articles referring to the Ghosts of Razgriz. A flag with the squadron's emblem flew in Oured Park. Whoever the Razgriz was, that's who had ended the war and brought peace to Osea for a solid nine years. Harling contributed, yes, but was he really as great as everyone believed?

A voice jarred her from her thoughts. It was Sky Keeper, his voice as light and calm as ever as he addressed her. "Trigger, how you feeling out there, kid?"

Naomi took a moment to respond, trying to decide the best way to phrase it. "Better than I thought I would, but I'm still nervous," she admitted at last, eyeing her radar and doing a once over of all of her controls. Pre-flight checks had taken forever as she wanted to be thorough, but Naomi was not any less anxious being out on her own. "I'm glad I've got you looking out for me, Sky Keeper, but I miss the others. I've got a bad feeling about this, honestly. What if I screw up?"

Sky Keeper didn't answer for a few seconds. "You'll be fine. I'll talk you through it to keep your mind off of the mission," he reassured her. "Nothing's slipping past me this time around." Naomi couldn't help but smile at this. "Alright, you're entering the operation area now. You need to maintain radio silence. We'll be able to radio you, but you are not permitted to make contact, understand? If you're spotted then the mission's over. Stay out of the enemy radar and keep your cool out there. Oh, and use of weaponry is also forbidden. Unfortunately, it'll give you away. Sorry about that, Trigger."

Naomi nodded to herself, diving to a lower altitude to get out of the clouds, which had become thicker. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from talking. She never realized until then just how much she relied on communication. Talking to herself was also an option, but then she feared she'd sound crazy, even if no one was there to hear her. Sky Keeper radioed her again, "Okay, you're now officially heading up the Harling rescue mission. The success of this relies on you and your performance. Good luck out there."